Multiple NGOs have claimed that Xu Dongqing and her daughter Yang Li from Jintan District, Changzhou City, Jiangsu Province, who are suffering from serious illnesses, were arrested while petitioning in Beijing. According to insiders, Xu Dongqing expressed her desire to die in custody due to torture and mental torment, while her daughter Yang Li has been subjected to severe torture and can often be heard loudly accusing officials of persecution.
Xu Dongqing and Yang Li have been struggling for over a decade to seek justice following the illegal land expropriation and forced eviction by the Jintan District government. Starting in February 2023, they began petitioning in Beijing while seeking medical treatment, submitting evidence to the National Bureau for Letters and Calls, accusing them of two years of oppression and persecution by officials from the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Social Work and the former Secretary of the Changzhou Municipal Committee, Chen Jinhutian and Hong.
On October 12 and 19, 2024, after seeking help from Xi Jinping in Zhongnanhai, Beijing, Xu Dongqing and Yang Li were once again ordered by Jiangsu officials to be persecuted and detained. Deputy Director Zhai Junkan of the Binhuhu Police Station explicitly informed their family members when delivering the detention notice, stating that they would be detained for three days first, with further decisions to be made by the leadership. Subsequently, Xu Dongqing and Yang Li were continuously detained in the Changzhou Detention Center and subjected to torture and abuse.
Xu Dongqing, 72, suffers from heart disease, while her daughter Yang Li has kidney disease. Due to being obstructed from seeking medical treatment and subjected to torture for an extended period, Xu Dongqing has suffered multiple severe health crises, with her life hanging by a thread, and Yang Li’s kidney disease has worsened rapidly.
An informant named Xiao An told the media that “while detained in the Changzhou Detention Center, Yang Li was subjected to brutal torture for four days and nights due to loudly accusing officials such as Tian Hong and Chen Jinhutian of infringing on human rights, sending polices to beat and kidnap her to prevent her from seeking medical treatment and petitioning. After two long hunger strikes and being sent to the hospital for treatment, she was again sent back to the detention center, resulting in her creatinine level rising to 311, severe renal anemia, swelling, and symptoms of heart disease. Xu Dongqing, unable to walk due to knee joint damage, has to take painkillers daily. For the past ten days, she has been unable to eat due to gastrointestinal injuries, only being kept alive by intravenous drips. The Changzhou Detention Center claimed that officials refused to provide medical treatment and necessary medication for both of them.”
Xiao An stated that “the Changzhou Detention Center has been abusing detainees for a long time, with meals consisting of severely moldy rice and only two salty vegetable dishes a day, with even boiled cabbage soup for lunch. Each cell is overcrowded with more than 30 detainees, and Xu Dongqing once suffered a heart attack due to poor air circulation. ”
Xu Dongqing’s eldest daughter, Yang Caiying, who is in Japan, told the media that “since my mother and sister were detained, the newly appointed Director of the Binhuhu Police Station of the Changzhou Municipal Public Security Bureau, Ma Yunpeng, the investigating police officer Zhang Ying, the National Security officer Xue Feng, and their subordinates Qi Mingzhi and the head of the First Inspection Department of the Jintan District People’s Procuratorate, Liu Zhan, have repeatedly visited the Changzhou Detention Center to threaten and intimidate them, stating that they would receive heavy sentences if they did not confess and guarantee not to petition in Beijing again.
“They have no evidence demonstrating that the two committed any crimes during the petitioning process. Ma Yunpeng and Liu Zhan even sued Xu Dongqing and Yang Li and planned to sentence them to 1-2 years in prison under the pretext of incurring over 100,000 yuan in expenses for the capture in Beijing. This level of persecution is akin to a wolf devouring lambs; even if the wolf commits all kinds of evil deeds, they can always find reasons to devour the lambs.”
Xiao An further stated that “Qimingzhi, the head of the National Security at the Changzhou Public Security Bureau, told family members that capturing petitioners in Beijing requires spending between 50,000 and 60,000 RMB each time, adding up to over one million RMB over two years. Additionally, over the two years, authorities have been surveilling the Yang family around the clock, incurring costs well over a million RMB. By only mentioning tens of thousands of expenses, the purpose is to frame the case as a miscarriage of justice while concealing the corruption of officials involved in maintaining stability.”
Yang Caiying also mentioned that “with my mother and sister’s conditions deteriorating, Ma Yunpeng of the public security bureau, who fabricated the case, and the prosecutor Liu Zhan, who pushed forward the false accusation, have repeatedly refused our family’s requests for bail and meetings.”
On February 17, 2025, Chen Jinhutian, the Secretary of the Changzhou Municipal Committee, was announced to have fallen from power. On that day, Prosecutor Liu Zhan went to the Changzhou Detention Center once again and pressured Xu Dongqing to confess guilt. After being rejected, Liu Zhan stated that if Xu Dongqing acknowledged visiting Beijing nine times, the guilt could be overlooked. Xu Dongqing tearfully protested her innocence.
A few days later, Xue Feng, the National Security officer at the Changzhou Public Security Bureau, and his subordinate, Qi Mingzhi, went to the Changzhou Detention Center to provoke and taunt Xu Dongqing, asking if she was comfortable in the detention center and if she wanted to go home, suggesting they could negotiate the length of her sentence with Prosecutor Liu Zhan.
Yang Caiying expressed, “Officials issuing orders, public security officers fabricating cases, prosecutors forcefully pushing false accusations, detention centers subjecting detainees to torture without medical treatment or medication, national security officers and prosecutors discussing sentences—every step and detail solidifies the case as politically motivated persecution orchestrated by the authorities, proving that there is no justice in the Chinese judiciary. To seek justice for my family, I have also sent a letter seeking help to Ambassador Wu Jianghao in Japan, hoping for a proper resolution to the case.”